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london british
architecture |
| gallery of
nineteenth century London |
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Museums
The British compulsion to collect artifacts means that
Britain has the best museums in the world - we had a whole empire to
plunder. Below is a shortlist of the main museums, but whatever your interest, from 17th Century
fans, to fan engines, there's a museum specifically catering to your taste.
And virtually all of them are free.... |
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10- Dulwich Gallery
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20- Museum of Natural History |
27- Soane Museum |
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41- The British Museum |
48- Whitechapel Art Gallery |
52- The Victoria and Albert Museum |
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60- The Tate Modern |
67- The
National Gallery |
83- Imperial
War Museum |
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| 99- Tate Britain |
100- National Portrait
Gallery |
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Churches
London is the location of many famous churches, chapels
and cathedrals, in a density unmatched anywhere else in England.
Wren
Before the Great Fire of London in 1666, the City of London had over 107
churches in an area of only one square mile (2.6 km²). Of the 86 destroyed
by the Fire, 51 were rebuilt along with St Paul's Cathedral. The majority
have traditionally been regarded as the work of Sir Christopher Wren, but
although their rebuilding was entrusted primarily to him, the role of his
various associates, including Robert Hooke and Nicholas Hawksmoor
especially, is currently being reassessed and given greater emphasis.
The designs of the Wren office have provided a benchmark for church
architecture ever since. Their character of pragmatism and fitness for
purpose combined with a joyous inventiveness do seem to reflect Wren's
personality in particular. Wren also designed a number of churches outside
the City, including St James's, Piccadilly and St Clement Danes. After Wren,
Hawksmoor was by common consent London's most significant church architect,
being responsible in his own right for six great churches in the East End of
London, of which most still stand (for example St George's Church,
Bloomsbury and Christ Church, Spitalfields) .
Metropolitan area
London's churches are extraordinarily numerous and diverse. Most lie within
the Anglican dioceses of London to the north and the Southwark to the south.
There are still some two thousand churches across the capital, of every age
and style, to the design and evolution of which at least six hundred
different architects have made contributions. As London expanded during the
early 19th century, many new churches were built to cater for the growing
urban population; the "Waterloo churches" programme, for example, saw
numerous churches constructed across south London in the first half of the
century.
Significance
Although many churches were entirely or partly lost to 19th-century
demolitions and to bombing in the Second World War, London's remaining
churches are renowned worldwide for their historical and architectural
value. Today, London's greatest concentrations of historic churches and
cathedrals are in the City of London and the neighbouring City of
Westminster. A number of the churches are mentioned in the nursery rhyme
Oranges and Lemons. Unless noted otherwise, this list of churches belong to
the Anglican church. |
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07- Christ Church
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26- Saint Paul's Cathedral |
30- St. Clement Danes |
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29- St. Antholin |
107- Priory Church of St
Bartholomew the Great |
36- St. Mary Woolnoth |
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33- St. Martin-in-the-Fields |
45- Westminster
Abbey |
49- Temple
Church |
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34- St. Mary-le-Strand |
35- St. Mary Le Bow |
94- Westminster
Cathedral |
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37- St. Nicholas Cole Abbey |
38- St. Stephen's Walbrook |
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Bridges
The Thames is central to the way Londoners see
themselves through history and today, shaping regional identities and
loyalties. |
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| 091- London Bridges |
61- Millenium Footbridge |
43- Tower Bridge |
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Buildings
From Mediaeval to Imperial to modern high tech. |
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| 01- 30 St
Mary Axe
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02- 88 Wood Street
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12- Food Theater Cafe
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09- Crystal Palace
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16- Lloyds Building
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70- Royal
Albert Hall |
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19- Millennium Dome |
21- Offices, Finsbury Avenue |
23- Palm House at Kew Gardens |
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24- Penguin Basin |
42- The Mound Stand |
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| 98-
King's College |
56- Harrod's |
72- Bank of
England |
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| 79- Freemasons
Hall |
80- Guildhall |
81- Horse
Guards |
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| 82- Imperial
College |
86- Lincolns
Inn |
87- The
London Eye |
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| 89- Lord's |
92- The Oxo
Tower |
32- Leadenhall Markets |
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| 104- The Connaught Hotel
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105- The Ritz |
108- Claridge's |
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| 109- The Savoy |
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Government
Buildings in the capital display the development of
democracy through Imperial days to modern large government. |
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28- Somerset House |
17- London City Hall
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47- Westminster Palace |
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46- Westminster Hall |
69- Admiralty
Arch |
58- The Old Bailey |
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| 77- County
Hall |
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Utilities
Britain, home of the Industrial Revolution and
Victorian opulence, has some superb public industrial buildings. |
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08- Continental Train Platform
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14- Greenwich Hospital
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22- Paddington Station |
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25- S. Pancras Station |
39- Stansted Airport |
93- Thames
Barrier |
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62- Battersea Power Station |
63- London Underground |
68- Canary
Wharf Tube Station
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| Housing |
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03- Alexandra Road Housing
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11- Fleet Road Terrace Housing
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15- Housing in Camden
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18- London Terraced House |
40- The Ark |
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Palaces
Medieval London is well known for having been full of
rich monasteries, nunneries, colleges, and parish churches. So much so that
it might be compared to the 'Ile Sonnante 'of Rabelais. If it could be
called a 'City of Churches', it was, in fact, much more a 'City of Palaces'.
For there were, in London, more palaces than in Verona and Florence and
Venice and Genoa all put together. There was not, it is true, a line of
marble 'palazzi 'along the banks of a Grande Canale; there was no Piazza
della Signoria, no Piazza della Erbe to show these buildings. They were
scattered about all over the City. They were built without regard to general
effect and with no idea of decoration or picturesqueness. They lay hidden in
narrow winding labyrinthine streets. The warehouses stood beside and between
them. The common people dwelt in narrow courts around them. They faced each
other on opposite sides of the lanes. |
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04- Chiswick House
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05- Banqueting House
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44- Tower of London |
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50- Windsor Castle |
51- Hampton Court |
71- Apsley
House |
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| 73- Buckingham
Palace |
75- Clarence
House |
78- Eltham
Palace |
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| 84- Kensington
Palace |
31- St. James |
95- Winchester
Palace |
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| 85- Lambeth
Palace |
96-Mansion House |
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Monuments
A great many monuments pay homage to people and events
in the city. The
Monument in the City of London provides views of the
surrounding area while commemorating the Great Fire of London, which
originated nearby. Marble Arch and Wellington Arch, at the north and south
ends of Park Lane respectively, have royal connections, as do the
Albert Monument and Royal Albert Hall in
Kensington. Nelson's Column
is a nationally-recognised monument in Trafalgar Square, one of the focal
points of the centre. |
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53- The Albert Monument |
65- Nelson's
Column- Trafalgar Square |
74- The Cenotaph |
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| 76- Cleopatra's
Needle |
90- The
Monument |
110- The Euston Arch |
Theatres
Most of the theatres in "Theatreland" are of late
Victorian or Edwardian construction, and they are privately owned. Most of
them have great character, and the largest and best maintained are splendid,
featuring grand neo-classical, romanesque, or Victorian facades and
luxurious, detailed interior design and decoration. On the other hand, leg
room is often cramped, and audience facilities such as bars and toilets are
often much smaller than in modern theatres. The protected status of the
buildings and their confined urban locations, combined with financial
constraints, mean that it is very difficult to make substantial improvements
to the level of comfort offered. In 2004, it was estimated that an
investment of £250 million was required for modernisation, and the theatre
owners unsuccessfully requested tax concessions to help them meet the costs. |
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13- Globe Theater
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88- The Palladium |
106- The London
Coliseum |
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Parks, Squares, Areas
London is well endowed with open spaces. Green space in
central London consists of five Royal Parks, supplemented by a number of
small garden squares scattered throughout the city centre. Open space in the
rest of the city is dominated by the remaining three Royal Parks and many
other parks and open spaces of a range of sizes, run mainly by the local
London boroughs, although other owners include the National Trust and the
Corporation of London. |
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06- Bedford Park
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59- Fleet Street |
64- The West End / Leicester Square |
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| 66- Picadilly
Circus |
DV32-
Saint James's Park |
54- Regent's Park |
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| 97- Hyde Park |
98- Kensington Gardens |
101- Portobello Road |
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british architecture |
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the architecture you must see
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